If Daily Kos’ banning of Steve Amsel and Eileen Fleming, two peace activists who support the rights of the Palestinian people, a few days ago, and three other peace activists that preceded them, were not enough, today Daily Kos banned two Palestinian peace activists. This action was taken in an apparent attempt to appease a small group of right wing proIsrael supporters who have invaded Daily Kos. If anyone believes that of course they should probably take ownership of the Brooklyn Bridge. The true source of all of these banning is not yet evident, but no one is ready to believe that Daily Kos is getting ready to be sold to an AIPAC subsidiary.
As for Daily Kos’ investment in progressive and liberal issues like civil and human rights, the word is that Kos the owner doesn’t care one way or another about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, even though it is a core issue in American foreign policy. That’s an interesting prospective when a Left Wing Democrat does not care about human rights issues. Because many people believe that the Left Wing of the Democratic party is taking its lead from the netroots, places like Daily Kos, which is the largest political blog on the internet, not giving a damned one way or another about human rights issues is not exactly what a typical liberal or progressive Democrat would expect from a blog that purports to be liberal or progressive. Leadership in civil and human rights is certainly not what any liberal or progressive Democrat will find at Daily Kos.
Here are the obituaries for the most recent voices snuffed out by Daily Kos, both of whose writings cried out for justice for the Palestinian people, especially because they are both Palestinian.
Hiatham Sabbah
Haitham Sabbah; is a husband and father of two active boys and one little girl; an Electronics & Communication Engineer; born at Kuwait on April, 2nd, 1969. His family was forcibly uprooted from Palestine and presently considers himself a man without a country, a Palestinian in exile.
Haitham runs the blog, Sabbah’s Blog located at: http://sabbah.biz/mt/
Haitham started Sabbah’s Blog because he felt….
….disappointment about what (he) read about what and how the Middle East is represented to the world online, especially the lies and biased coverage of the news media concerning atrocities and the murder of his countrymen and women in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (while Israel continued to colonize the West Bank and Gaza).
(He states that his) blog topics encourage healthy discussions on political, cultural, religious, and life in the Arab World, but (his) chief interest is in the intersection between politics, individual liberty, and freedom in the Middle East, particularly in Palestine. The vast majority of his blog posts and essays touch on this in one way or another, and he tries to create a better understanding of what is going on, speaking the truth, which is always hidden in Western media when it comes to Palestine/Israel conflict.
Hiatham Sabbah no doubt became familiar with the extensive censorship, lies, and propaganda that pervade the global news media, especially in the United States, about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. His contributions at Daily Kos largely revealed the human rights violations and injustices that pervade the lives of Palestinians today, and the peace he supports.
When Daily Kos took down Haitham Sabbah today, he took down a decent voice that spoke about truth and peace in relation to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Umkahlil
Umkahlil runs Umkahlil, a blog dedicated to the rights of the Palestinians, especially the “right of return” of the Palestinian refugees, who have lingered in numerous refugee camps in the Palestinian territories as well as surrounding Arab countries like Jordan and Lebanon, for sixty years. Although her family originally came from Ramallah, West Bank, she is a naturalized Palestinian-American citizen, who is employed as a school teacher. I can’t imagine what she will have to say tomorrow to her pupils about free speech in America, but certainly it cannot be very pleasant.
http://umkahlil.blogspot.com/2007_03_01_archive.html
Her blog profile is short and direct (no picture, sorry):
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 13, Section 2 states “Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.” This blog advocates for the implementation of the Palestinians’ inalienable right to return home and calls upon each and every blogger concerned about human rights, justice, and a durable peace in the Middle East to get behind the effort to advocate for its implementation.
Over the years, Umkahlil watched as Palestine progressively diminished as Israel colonized more and more land, until only 10% of what was once 90% ownership of Palestine existed. That colonization continues in the West Bank today, with more and more acres added to the tens of thousands already confiscated, and more and more Palestinians dead, added to the tens of thousands already killed in defense of their lands.
So in parting, we say to Sabbah and Unkahlil, goodbye. The Democratic Left, or at least that portion of the Left that resides on Daily Kos, has left you. As the sixth and seventh peace activist banned from Daily Kos recently, you will be missed. But we will be back. Who? The Democratic Left, the true liberals and progressives who support our civil and human rights agenda. No blog owner will ever kill that one thing that has made us unique among Democrats, indeed, among Americans.
I’ve enjoyed your diaries in the past, and have found them to be useful and enlightening, so I’m not just thanking your for the diary; I’m trying to tell you that you’ve made a difference. It’s not that you’ve convinced a new face, we already share the same position on the larger I/P issue. It does my soul good to see someone couple their intellect with their passion in an effort to help right an injustice.
That being said, you’ll never convince me that kos is a Left Wing Democrat. My eyes were opened when he smeared Kucinich. I thought I was watching a parody of Fox News. And no, I’m not in the Kucinich camp. I just like to decide things (political candidates, I/P) on the merits rather than the propaganda…
Thanks again!
Thanks for your kind words and the understanding concerning DKos. We seem to be witnessing position taking on this important human rights issue that we, as Americans, are implicated in. We, at least our representative government, is as much at fault for letting this tragedy continue as anyone else, including Israel, the prime suspect.
I will never believe that anyone could consider himself or herself a progressive or liberal Democrat and turn their backs on what is and has happened in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Daily Kos is not a liberal or progressive Democratic site, for sure.
Plan A, apparently, was to ban all I/P diaries, to maintain some facade of “impartiality”. But risser’s poll sort of squelched that idea, with 95% of respondents opposing a ban, and barely a quarter of those willing to accept “some” restrictions.
So they’re left with Plan B . . . allow I/P diaries, but ban any Palestinian or pro-Palestinian posters.
Well I have run the usual gamut of misquotation and accusations of anti-semitism from the usual 15 or so suspects on Kos. If anybody has seen the BBC documentary on the Scientologists, their techniques of harassment are the same. I have other interests as well that usually up my “mojo” on there. Looks like I will have to start doing more diaries on the issue.
The trouble is that the coterie of AIPAC shrill on there have a tenedency to uprate anything almost any others in their little gang post and thereby increase each other’s credit.
The actual figure in Risser’s poll was 97% did not want banning IP diaries. But now that I read your post about what to expect from usual suspects, here is an email to Hunter, after he banned Desert Peace, and made remarks to other right wing Zionists, who he appeared to be appeasing.
Email to Hunter.
I read your posts, especially those addressed to the fawning right wing Zionists on Desert Peace’s diary.
Your perception that the so-called proPalestinian group, actually, the proPeace group, is more organized and is somehow having the upper hand on DKos is a total misperception of the reality. I can’t believe it could not be so obvious.
First, if you can understand that the goal of the proZionist people is to diminish or stop the publication of IP diaries, whereas the proPeace group is interested in publicizing the injustices surrounding the conflict, then you would not conclude that, simply because the proPeace group publishes more diaries than the proZionist group, it is more organized. Far from it.
It is easy to conclude that most of the time there are no IP diaries on DKos.
Second, unless you are incapable of appreciating what you read, no one can help but take notice that it is the proZionist group that persistently undertakes to derail and distract diaries, almost routinely. Their comments regularly attempt to slay the messenger or take the commentary on flights of irrelevancy. They are also the source of the argumentation on these diaries, most of which has absolutely nothing to do with diary content. Silence is their goal; nothing more. And it is the sole purpose of their antics.
Administration, or so it seems, has taken to favor the proZionist side as seen by the banning now of five proPeace diarists without obvious or stated grounds, while no proZionist diarist has been so banned. No proZionist commentator has been banned for the trollish antics of purposely derailing diaries, such as using pictures and recipes for the purpose of falsely claiming diaries they disagree with are troll diaries. Tag altering regularly occurs.
Only purposefully myopic individuals could not perceive the occurrence of this kind of behavior in the IP diaries and see it as the source of difficulties. Yet administration routinely ignores it. Perhaps you may wish to explain to the proPeace group why your actions appear so biased, and why you take to talking with comity to the very people who act like trolls in derailing diaries, as if that behavior were somehow welcome.
You therefore missed the reality completely and unless you have been taken in, you have actually taken to appeasing the very people who are the cause of difficulties on IP diaries. Indeed, when the proZionist people for some reason do not arrive, the comments, though fewer, are typically diary focused and relevant and pleasant. I could give you many examples, but you should know this much already.
shergald
You are not “proPeace”. Your idea of “Peace” is to support the right-wing, racist, genocidal organizations that want to wipe out the Jews, not anyone working for peace in the Middle East.
“proZionist” means Jews have a right to form a state on their own land. It just means equal rights and respect for Jews as for other races. Zionism has nothing to do with Israeli policy, only the state’s existence. Trying to portray Zionists as being against peace is as bad as the abortion criminalization movement describing liberals as anti-life. Your open letter to Hunter is yet more dishonest propaganda.
Nonsense.
As “another American” I have taken heat for uprating Londonbear’s comments in a DKos diary about the impending release of Holocaust archives in Germany. I also defended Londonbear against the erroneous accusation of Holocaust Denial.
But Londonbear, IMHO, misunderstands the response to his current DKos comments. IMHO, the comments have an unnecessarily hostile tone and, in one key place, used a word, “agenda,” that, in context, was susceptible to an unfortunate meaning. Accordingly, I would not ordinarily have recommended them. I did uprate, however, because I thought, and still think, they were far from troll-worthy.
What disturbs me about Londonbear’s current comment, and with others of its ilk, as well as some of the comments criticizing him over at DKos, is the unwillingness or inability to start with the working presumption that we are engaged in a good faith disagreement.
Maybe I’m not suited to the cut and thrust of the blogosphere.
Shergald is part of a psyop being run against Daily Kos, My Left Wing, and Booman Tribune by the International Solidarity Movement, a pro-PLO public relations outfit.
The map at the bottom is an example of his lies. For one, Jews/Israelis are Palestinians, especially if we are talking about the 1946-1948 time frame. The 1948 division was not between Jews and “Palestinians”, it was between a Jewish-led state with equal rights for Arabs and an Arab-only state where Jews were to be forbidden. The Arab state never came to exist and was folded into Egypt and Jordan, and from 1948 to 1967 there was no “Palestinian Land” in the sense that Shergald means. In fact, the PLO charter pre-1967 specifically rejects any “Palestinian” claim to the West Bank and Gaza. Shergald also leaves out the 1922 map showing the 60%+ of Palestine east of the Jordan River being given to an Arab governor, which throws his percentages way the hell off.
I think we are also justified in judging you to be aipac psyops, and I trust the voters ism represents to not go gop than the ones you probably represent. Though they probably donate to both parties, but so does the nra.
shergald and several of his buddies have mentioned their ISM membership on Daily Kos and other sites. They have also described themselves as running a campaign to get their message on popular liberal weblogs. Swing by “Another American”‘s Daily Kos diaries for as basic an introduction as anyone has done.
I am not related to AIPAC or any advocacy organization. I just happen to have read enough about the Arab-Israeli conflict enough to know that the ISMers are lying and using propaganda frames established by the PLO.
ISM is more closely tied to the Workers World Party and International ANSWER than they are to the Democrats. “the voters ism represents” are the people who will not vote for Obama or Edwards because the Democrats are too right wing and pro-war. I’m an ex-Green voter who was proudly pro-Kerry, and I don’t “represent” any voter other than myself.
whatever you say. I am betting if Obama and Edwards had Carter’s courage, a courage the dems used to have before they started trying the get the Richard Perle vote, that ism would vote for them, and I for one would welcome it. Let aipac voters vote repuke. They will anyway. They are so right wing they think Pastor Hagee is sane.
Shergald was neer a member of the International Solidarity Movement or ISM, which has over a dozen subsidiaries in the US. It organizer, Aldoni, along with Jeff Halper, founder of Israel Committee Against House Demolition, was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 by another well known, world based peace organization (name fails me momentarily).
Jon the antiZionist Jew, who diaries at DKos, is a member of ISM and is presently working in the West Bank. Don’t miss his on-the-spot diaries if you really want to get an understanding of what Israeli colonialism is all about.
I look for him to be the next to be banned. His diaries, like Anna Baltzer’s, are highly personal and impactful. Anna was banned today on trumped grounds.
So you aren’t ISM, you just hang around the same circles online and spout the same talking points.
As an aside, being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize doesn’t mean much since just about anybody can do it. George W. Bush was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize after invading Iraq. The Nobel Peace Prizes awarded to Henry Kissinger, Le Duc Tho, and Yasser Arafat tarnish the value of an actual award. You have to look at the facts of the situation.
I look forward to seeing Jon the Anti-Semitic Jew get banned from Daily Kos. At least two of his diaries have mourned the deaths of terrorists and misstated the circumstances to make it sound like they were innocent people shot for fun by Evil Jews instead of being killed in a shootout that they were full participants in. He is one of the worst offenders of facts and twists words in a way that makes Newt Gingrich’s language memo look amateur.
You know, I am disgusted by the apartheid that Israel stands for. While I wish for a peace treaty that Israel will stick to, I am not holding my breath. If Shergald is part of the Palestinian revolution, well, I wish him good luck. All I have seen from him is bringing forth the issues of a very miserable situation from a side that is often lacking in politics. I don’t think America sees even a quarter of the true face of Israel. So, I applaud Shergald, for enlightening us to what Israel is doing to the Palestinians. I don’t like some of what he says, but I do appreciate his openly talking about a subject that many shy away from. If he opens the gate to discussion, then I am all for it.
“The Palestinian revolution” means to kill all Jews in Israel! You should not be supporting that!
And, Shergald’s “enlightenment” is half lies and half half-truths framed in a way designed by the PLO to make listeners support terrorism. It discourages discussion. You can’t have a discussion when no one agrees on the basic facts of what the matter is.
no it means “stop the settlements if your serious about two states! and I see no evidence what so ever Israel is. The PLO recognized Israel long ago, it made no difference. Israel continued to expand.
If you’re in the South during the ’50s and you proudly declare your support for the Southern Way of Life, particularly in a discussion about the civil rights movement, it means a lot more than liking to sit on your porch and drink brandy while the sun sets. Kamakhya unintentionally announced support for genociding the Jews. The phrase has nothing to do with settlements or any Israeli policy or intention.
Judging by K’s rating, it looks like it was not unintentional. My apologies for trying to clean up the use of racist code words.
Oh bullshit. I troll rated you because you accused me of being for the genocide of Jews. That is fucking bullshit and you know it. I am opposed to the genocide of Palestinians as well. Since your sticking up for Israel here, shall I accuse you of being for the genocide of the Palestinians?
All that I have stood for on this thread is: 1) the facts, and 2) don’t kill the Jews. Apparently this means I’m “sticking up for Israel” and that makes me an enemy. I stand by my second interpretation.
Good God you sound like Bush or fat ass Sharon if he could still speak. Have you seeen how people live in Gaza? You call abject poverty terrorism. The Isrealis have been handing it to the Palestinians for a long time. They have been pushed from their land, murdered, forced into refugee camps. Their towns leveled and parks built over them.
How do you think the refugee camps came about? Just some scummy Palestinians who like to live that way? The Zionists threw these people off there land in 1947. Yes they hate Isreal only a fucking saint wouldn’t after the Zionist take over. We need to wise up here and start pressuring Isreal instead of winking at them. Wake up. Lets do what is right.
None of that has anything to do with the post you responded to.
That is just more hasbara bullshit. Propaganda, you heard of it I am certain. To see otherwise intelligent, grownup people repeat hasbara line is to me not just dishonest, but naive because it is expected to convince other people. I’m certain that if I read further I will hear about the “terrorist” meme and the most recent crap about “Israel’s right to exist.” It is all created in Jerusalem and packaged for people like yourselves, who actually believe this stuff.
Hamas’s charter is Hasbara? The public statements of PLO leadership and their radio and TV broadcasts are Hasbara? The PLO supporters (Majdur et al) on Indymedia, who say their intention is to kill all the Jews, are Hasbara?
That’s ridiculous. You just don’t want to accept the truth.
Jordan dealt with the Isrealis in order to get the West Bank. No one helped the Palestinians during the 1947 ethnic cleansing. Unless a few hundred basically unarmed Arab volunteers counts as an Arab army. You are really distorting history here. I have to wonder about your agenda.
Read this: The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine.
Then go here:
Can’t say the same for yours. Jordan did not “deal with Israel to get the West Bank”, they took control of it and established a ceasefire laying down what is called the Green Line, then gave it to Israel in 1994. The thirty years of race riots and genocide against Jewish residents in Palestine before ’48 were the work of far more than “a few hundred unarmed volunteers”, and the Mufti of Jerusalem raised a sizeable army after Berlin fell and he knew he would no longer have Hitler’s help to solve the Jewish Problem in Palestine. You then tell me to read Pappe, who is a known fabricator. Sorry, that’s not much of a response.
The Palestinians lived there. The Zionists coveted and stole there land. End of story. From 50% allotted by the UN to what now 95%. But the settlers want more illegal or not. After all its God’s will.
The response was equal to the original bullshit. 😉
The Palestinians to ’48 included Arabs, Jews (“Zionists”), and assorted minorities. There was a Arab-Jewish race war (initiated by the Arab leadership, not the Zionists), both sides committed atrocities and stole land from each other, and many Arabs still live in Israel as citizens with equal rights under the law.
I see your percentages are not taking Palestine Transjordan into account, and I doubt they account for Arab Israelis and their land.
First, define refugee. What do you come up with? I come up with one seeking refuge. In the case of the Palestinian refugees I believe they were seeking refuge from the fighting. If you have a different notion I’d love to hear it.
Now, hopefully we’ve established that the Palestinian refugees fled the fighting that broke out after the UN recognized Israel. That being the case, why were they not allowed to return to their homes? Please don’t tell me it’s because they swore to drive the Jews into the sea as we’ve already established they didn’t want any part of that fight.
And now for some rhetoric, why should any freedom and justice loving American support the theft of this land and the murders and misery that are a direct result of this injustice? As far as I’m concerned, I don’t get to complain if you attack me after I’ve robbed you. As far as I’m concerned, if a UN Resolution can create a nation it can also place limits on that same nation regarding the return of refugees.
I’ve got more but work calls…
Shergald and his friends are posting terrorist propaganda on several liberal blogs. That is the issue, not anything that Israel has done.
As for your logic game, you fell on your own sword:
Poof, there goes any argument for supporting the PLO cause! They don’t get to complain if Israel attacks them after their predecessors attacked the Jews for thirty years.
Which 30 years are you talking about?
Your claim that I “fell on my sword” rings hollow until you provide something more substantial than empty rhetoric.
There were about thirty years of violence and ethnic cleansing against Jewish immigrants in Palestine before it became Israel. The reason things got as bad as they did in ’48 is because a lot of hatred had been simmering for a very long time.
kos is becoming “establishment” and as such serves more as a “left gatekeeper”, yes please Google that one. There is no “left” and there is no “right”, look bigger, higher and eventually you might see both as huge corporate conglomerates warring against each other, begging for your attention, asking you to be a member of a “community”, which most people want.
Dingoes ate my diary.
Thanks for the Diary. Again I still see only good coming from the bannings. It now brings me to this site everyday, as I am sure it does others. This will only increase the sites traffic and impact. The thing I want to know is what safeguards exist here regarding the “diary police”. I am sure it is just a matter of time before they arrive in droves.
If I read her correctly, MSOC is fully capable of handling the problem. The problem at Daily Kos is that the administration simply allowed and ignored constant diary hijacking by people who tried to suppress topics which were not friendly toward Israel’s government and its behavior.